Numerous experts agree that in the years ahead, issues regulated by conventions in the field of climate change will be a prism through which new, not so easily visible, economic relations between countries will be reflected, former vice-president of the Framework Convention on Climate Change, member of the COP Bureau Andrej Bojic told Report.

As one of the responses to these consequences, states began to develop various political and economic instruments, he noted.

“One of the most complex is the transition of modern economies from industrial economies based on enormous consumption of energy to green economies based on innovation, environmental protection and renewable energies,” he said.

This transition represents an extremely complex set of political, economic, social and environmental measures, instruments and activities that must be adopted in individual countries, he added.

“States today are ‘voluntarily forced’ to deal with the transition of their economies and to clean them of dirty technologies and excessive use of fossil fuels. The term ‘voluntarily forced’ best describes the situation in which countries are given the option of choosing whether to be on the green transition train or not, but if they are not, they will not be able to participate in new forms of cooperation and economy. In the case of less developed countries, this creates additional pressure because often the loans that come from international financial institutions and from bilateral aid and cooperation are conditioned by environmental standards.”

“An example of an excellent solution can be proper waste management, which involves obtaining electrical and thermal energy from waste, and even hydrogen, as well as establishing the concept of smart cities that use significantly less energy for their public needs, as well as properly measuring the carbon footprint of companies and creating carbon credits that can be traded on carbon markets. I know that Azerbaijan has taken significant steps in these fields and it is certainly a good path,” he added.